It’s pretty well accepted as fact by nearly everyone except Obama that the Executive Order he issued on January 5th would not have prevented Sandy Hook or the San Bernadino mass shootings. In each case the shooters would have had access even if all the talking points and all the actions in the Executive Order had been in place at the time of those shootings.

The administration believes that implementing background checks at gun shows and through private transfers will eliminate or “help” to eliminate two-thirds of all firearm deaths in this country by preventing suicides. That’s right; nearly 20,000 of the 30,000 yearly deaths with firearms are the result of suicides.

What’s missing is any type of empirical study on where the suicidal purchased or acquired their firearms. One study found that “The availability of guns in the home, independent of firearms type or method of storage, appears to increase the risk for suicide among adolescents.” 72% of the adolescent suicides in Pittsburgh came from a gun already in the home.

Obama’s Executive Order:1. Keep guns out of the wrong hands through background checks.

Obama has instructed the ATF to tighten its requirement on who is a dealer of firearms. If you are engaged in the resale or sale of firearms, then you need a Federal Firearms License (FFL). The Whitehouse acknowledges that there is no minimum number of sales that would make someone a dealer and there have been cases where as few two sales brought criminal charges.

According to the fact sheet issued by the White House:Clarify that it doesn’t matter where you conduct your business—from a store, at gun shows, or over the Internet: If you’re in the business of selling firearms, you must get a license and conduct background checks. Quantity and frequency of sales are relevant indicators. There is no specific threshold number of firearms purchased or sold that triggers the licensure requirement. But it is important to note that even a few transactions, when combined with other evidence, can be sufficient to establish that a person is “engaged in the business.” For example, courts have upheld convictions for dealing without a license when as few as two firearms were sold or when only one or two transactions took place, when other factors also were present.

There are criminal penalties for failing to comply with these requirements. A person who willfully engages in the business of dealing in firearms without the required license is subject to criminal prosecution and can be sentenced up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000. Dealers are also subject to penalties for failing to conduct background checks before completing a sale.

The White House paper also states:

The National Firearms Act imposes restrictions on sales of some of the most dangerous weapons, such as machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. But because of outdated regulations, individuals have been able to avoid the background check requirement by applying to acquire these firearms and other items through trusts, corporations, and other legal entities. In fact, the number of these applications has increased significantly over the years—from fewer than 900 applications in the year 2000 to more than 90,000 applications in 2014. ATF is finalizing a rule that makes clear that people will no longer be able to avoid background checks by buying NFA guns and other items through a trust or corporation.

2. Make our communities safer from gun violence.

Ensure smart and effective enforcement of our gun laws.

In a call earlier today, the Attorney General discussed the importance of today’s announcements and directed the Nation’s 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country to continue to focus their resources—as they have for the past several years under the Department’s Smart on Crime initiative—on the most impactful cases, including those targeting violent offenders, illegal firearms traffickers, and dangerous individuals who bypass the background check system to acquire weapons illegally. During the call, the Attorney General also emphasized ongoing initiatives to assist communities in combating violent crime, including ATF’s efforts to target the “worst of the worst” gun crimes. These efforts will also complement the following actions announced today.

200 more ATF agents will be hired and 250 more FBI agents for the Instant Check System. What this administration does not tell you is that prosecution of gun crimes under this administration has dropped according to a Syracuse University study, from about 11,000 in 2004 to about 6,000 under Obama by 2011. In 2012 there as a slight increase in firearm crime prosecutions with the final number being 7,770.

If Obama is serious about prosecuting gun crimes, then he should instruct the DOJ to start the program. We’ve been waiting for 7 years as of this writing.

Obama intends to potentially add 75,000 Americans each year who are on social security to the prohibited list if they so much as have someone in charge of their social security monies. His rationale is that they would be labeled mentally incompetent and should not have a gun; all without the benefit of due process or judicial adjudication. Adjudication in this case comes from a Federal agency and without notification and without a hearing.

There is an affirmative defense to be used by someone who finds themselves so labelled by the Social Security Administration. 18 USC 922 (g)(4) spells out the definition of who is a mental defective.

The affirmative defense is if the "Adjudication or commitment was based solely on a medical finding without opportunity for hearing by the Federal department or agency with proper jurisdiction." It is questionable whether the SSA has "PROPER" jurisdiction in determining who is and who is not mentally defective and secondly there is a good bet they won't be holding 75,000 hearings a year to make that determination.

According to the White House:Include information from the Social Security Administration in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm. Current law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if, because of a mental health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to ensure that appropriate information in its records is reported to NICS. The reporting that SSA, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is expected to require will cover appropriate records of the approximately 75,000 people each year who have a documented mental health issue, receive disability benefits, and are unable to manage those benefits because of their mental impairment, or who have been found by a state or federal court to be legally incompetent. The rulemaking will also provide a mechanism for people to seek relief from the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental health.

So when your doctor asks if you have firearms in the home, or have you ever been treated for depression etc. Answer that it is none of his damned business.

There is also an initiative to identify those using the Affordable Care Act. They too are at risk of losing their gun rights.

…the Affordable Care Act, community health centers have expanded behavioral health services for nearly 900,000 people nationwide over the past two years.

4. Shape the future of gun safety technology.

The White House asserts: Tens of thousands of people are injured or killed by firearms every year—in many cases by guns that were sold legally but then stolen, misused, or discharged accidentally.

Not “Tens of thousands” as the White House states. Once the 20,000 suicides are removed from the numbers, we’re left with 10,000 to 11,000 who are “injured, or killed by firearms” a year. Accidental discharge deaths are between 400 and 600 deaths a year. Cars kill between 40,000 and 50,000 deaths a year. Perhaps we should start there if we want to make America a safer place.

There is nothing in the President’s proposals that will curb suicides, or firearm crime. The closest thing that will curb firearm related crime is to prosecute such crimes to the full extent of the law. Something Obama and former DOJ Director Eric Holder failed or refused to do.